Taking the One Seat

This past Sunday was the quintessential Christchurch Day...

I woke up to a sky filled with blue sky and sunshine and enthusiastically planned out every detail of the day. The beach, a bbq, a gathering of friends. By noon, clouds had closed in tightly and I stepped out the door in my jandals and togs to be greeted with a downpour of RAIN.

Yuck! My first impulse was negativity. A desire arose to winge and complain to my partner, my friends, anyone who would listen. And, as I felt my day and my heart start to sour, I made a different decision. I turned to my practice. I made a conscious decision to let go of my negativity. I stopped focusing on how what was happening was what I didn't want. I let go of the expectations I had piled on my day and opened instead to what the moment was offering me.

SO, I didn't get my day in the sun and a swim in the sea. Instead, I spent the afternoon savouring a long forgotten book, planning out my classes for the week, chatting to friends back in the States. I sat on my mat, closed my eyes, and watched my breath soften as I listened to the rain outside. Although these moments were not what I planned, they still made up a day that was rich and full in a different way.

Yoga is a practice of maintaining our internal steadiness, or equanimity, in our changing world. Like the New Zealand weather, none of the circumstances in our life are ever truly certain or fixed! When we can practice being present to each moment in the midst of change, when we can release our expectations and surrender to what is being offered, the moment and its possibilities EXPAND.

Next time you find yourself out for a walk, see what happens when you consciously slow your pace. Make each step, each breath mindful and aware. Let go of thinking ahead to the rest of your day, drop dwelling on the argument with your spouse, forget about the silly thing you said at work. Open your eyes to each moment and see what offers itself to you....The smell of honeysuckle, the sound of a bird, the coolness of shade, the bright blue colour of a neighbor's fence....When we take in the full sensory experience of each moment, we are gifted with sudden richness. Life takes on a deeper, richer texture and the beauty of the world unfolds before us.

We CAN perceive the changing nature of our world without need for panic or distress. We can ground ourselves in a steadiness that resides within and, resting there, choose to open our eyes without fear to what moves around us. To take what Buddhist meditation teacher Jack Kornfield calls, the "One Seat".

In this state of Yoga, we directly participate with Life. Moment to moment. No matter what arises, we can practice maintaining our "One Seat", the center within our heart, as we move through our lives.


Try working with this practice on your yoga mat! Here is a short sequence we did in Tuesday night's class:

Begin in Tree Pose on the right side. Maintain a steady ujjayi breath, hands together in front of the heart.

Step back with the left leg into Parsvottanasana, finger tips on the floor. Grounding from the focal point in the pelvis through the legs, exhale and soften your spine towards the earth.

On an exhalation, twist open into Reverse Trikonasana. Maintaining your connection to your center, reaffirm the intention in your legs as you soften the belly and open the heart more to the right.

Exhaling, unwind back to Parsvottanasana

Inhaling, root down into the earth and life the spine and the arms up into Virabhadrasana (Warrior) I. Feel steady and strong as you find your balance and breath.

On an inhalation, step courageously forward into Virabhadrasana (Warrior) III. Plant your faith in the steadiness of your right leg as you shift your weight.

Trusting in that same support, lift the spine up and bring the leg down, moving right back into Tree Pose.

Coming thru Tadasana, return to your breath. Shift your weight to the left leg and repeat the whole sequence on the left side.